Mother Nature got an Earth Day gift from some of her sons Saturday when volunteers gathered at the Darby property for a clean-up effort. The search for trash turned up old tires, television sets, a shopping cart, bags of garbage, old clothes, and car parts and seats.

"The focus was to clear out the 'big' items and concentrate on the property's 'hot spots' where people sometimes dump junk piles and garbage," Tim Buchanan wrote in an e-mail to the Patriot.

Buchanan thanked Lindsey Counsell for arranging support from the town Department of Public Works, including a one-ton truck.